Speaking with relatives about family history, I am often told to keep this piece of information between you, me and the gate post. Respecting sensibilities, I will share my family stories entwine with historical events from Copiah, Jefferson and Lincoln Counties, Mississippi, from gate post to gate post.

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Shirley's House - The Surviving Wartime Building Vicksburg National Military Park

This is the Shirley's House, also known as the White House, during the siege of Vicksburg, 1863. The house was built during the 1830s for northern born James and Adeline Shirley. The couple's three children were born in Vicksburg, and the family had twenty five slaves.

On May 18, 1863, as the Confederate rear guard fell back into the Vicksburg defenses, soldiers were ordered to burn all the houses in front of their works. The Shirley barns and outbuildings were quickly burned to the ground, but the soldier assigned to destroy the house was shot before he could apply the torch.

Mrs Shirley, her 15-year-old son Quincy, and several servants, were caught in the cross-fire as Union soldiers approached Vicksburg. Fearing for their lives, they remained in the house huddled in a chimney corner for three days before Mrs Shirley tied a sheet to a broom handle and had it placed on the upper front porch. The frightened occupants of the "white house" were finally removed by Union soldiers and given shelter in a cave.

When the siege ended, the Shirley house was badly damaged and abandoned. The house and sixty acres were sold to the United States government in 1900 by the couple's daughter Alice who insisted her parents be buried behind the house.

Grandbundle's Corner

About Me

A member of the sandwich generation taking care of an adult daughter and mother, both with brain disorders. I love genealogy and consider myself a community researcher. Researching the communities of Caseyville, Hazlehurst and Union Church, Mississippi, and wherever else we rooted.

Spring Beauties

Mother to Son

Well, son, I'll tell you:Life for me ain't been no crystal stair.Its had tacks in it,And splinters,And boards torn up,And places with no carpet on the floor---Bare.But all the timeI'se been a-climbin' on,And reachin' landin's,And turnin' cornersAnd sometimes goin' in the darkWhere there ain't been no light.So boy, don't you turn back.Don't you set down on the steps"Cause you finds it's kinder hard.Don't you fall now---For I'se still goin', honey,I'se still climbin',And life for me ain't been no crystal stair